Poll Bribe Saga: INEC Sends 70 Staff Back To EFCC
source: http://www.eyesoflagos.com/2017/04/poll-bribe-saga-inec-sends-70-staff.html




The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday declared that 70 staff of the commission will be referred back to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over their alleged involvement in the N23bn, 2015 electoral bribery scandal which has indicted 205 of its staff so far.
INEC while disclosing that an additional 80 serving officials of the commission were queried and interviewed over their alleged involvement in the scandal, added that a former national commissioner and five former Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) have been referred to the Presidency and EFCC for further necessary action.
The commission further revealed that retired senior INEC officials used an NGO, named, the West African Network of Election Observers (WANEO), to bribe and attempt to influence the outcome of the 2015 general elections.
National Commissioner and Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mallam Mohammed Haruna, stated this at a press conference in Abuja.
The commission had met yesterday to consider the report of its expanded Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee on the EFCC Interim Report on Bribery Corruption and Money Laundering Charges During the 2015 General Elections.
Late last year, INEC received an Interim Report from the EFCC, detailing allegations against 202 serving and retired INEC officials and staff in 16 States of the Federation. The money was alleged to have been doled out by former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
But speaking yesterday, Haruna declared that 205 serving INEC staff have so far been placed on suspension from duties and on half salary, pending the final determination of the cases they have with EFCC.
He further revealed that out of the N23bn alleged to have been doled out for the election, staff of the commission got over N3bn spread across 16 states.
Haruna said “The Commission met today to consider the report of its expanded Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee on the EFCC Interim Report on Bribery Corruption and Money Laundering Charges During the 2015 General Elections.
“In furtherance of its zero tolerance for corruption in the electoral process, the Commission ordered a thorough investigation into the allegations to establish the culpability or otherwise of those named in the EFCC Report.
“The Committee’s work was thorough and painstaking, involving issuance of queries to the 202 staff mentioned in the Report and interviewing them individually in accordance with the principle of fair hearing and in consonance with INEC Staff Conditions of Service. As a result of initial findings of the Committee, an additional 80 serving officials of the Commission, who were not named in the EFCC report but whose names came up in the course of the investigation, were also queried and interviewed,” he added.